


How It All Began

by Warp5Complex_Archivist



Category: Star Trek: Enterprise
Genre: M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2006-03-14
Updated: 2006-03-13
Packaged: 2018-08-16 06:10:36
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 3,417
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8090488
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Warp5Complex_Archivist/pseuds/Warp5Complex_Archivist
Summary: Archer recalls how he met his lover. (01/03/2003)





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Note from Kylie Lee, the archivist: this story was originally archived at [Warp 5 Complex](http://fanlore.org/wiki/Warp_5_Complex), the software of which ceased to be maintained and created a security hazard. To make future maintenance and archive growth easier, I began importing its works to the AO3 as an Open Doors-approved project in August 2016. I e-mailed all creators about the move and posted announcements, but I may not have reached everyone. If you are (or know) this creator, please contact me using the e-mail address on [Warp 5 Complex collection profile](http://archiveofourown.org/collections/Warp5Complex).

As I walk along the beach near my family home I think of my father. I had come home on leave from Starfleet, knowing that his health was failing and that his dream of seeing his engine fly were no nearer coming true. He has tried to stay optimistic, working long hours, trying not to let his frustration at the Vulcans show, but still it seems that they are holding back just enough help and information to prevent him from completing his task. Can't they see that we have come so far in a small amount of time, that we are ready to take this next step. They hide behind logic and detest our emotional natures, yet they stay, telling us they will help and assist but they hold us back. They dictate certain policies, you could say in a strange way; we've become a Vulcan colony. That's why I needed to take a walk before I see him, I need time to prepare to meet the latest assistant assigned by Starfleet and the Vulcans to help with the project. The past ones have been old engineers and scientists who believe that we humans are better off staying in our own part of the galaxy, where it is safe. Some have been civilians, some Starfleet, old officers coming to the end of their long careers and I daresay this Charles Tucker the Third is just like them. I sigh as I look out at the waves hitting the beach, knowing that I will be polite and civil for my father's sake.

I stop walking and look at the surf hitting the beach, my eyes straying to a young man who emerges. He pushes his blond hair out of his eyes and I can't help but notice his lean muscular body. He notices me and smiles and my heart melts. The man is stunning and before I realise it he has walked up to me.

"Hi" he says in a soft Southern drawl, "Didn't think anyone else was around."

"I was just walking." I watch as the man retrieves a towel and dries off, "You're not from around here."

He laughs and shakes his head, "Nah, just got a job here." he pauses and then extends a hand, "Name's Trip."

"Jon." I answer shaking his hand and then watching as he picks up a pair of sweats and slips them on over his Speedo's, "I was wondering if you'd like to go for a drink?" I know I'm being forward but I feel like I really would like to get to know this man a little better. I don't usually allow my bisexual tendencies to surface but looking at him, as the water glistens on his tanned skin, makes me decide to take the chance.

"I'd love t' but I've got to be somewhere this afternoon and I need t' shower and change first." he pauses looking thoughtful, "If ya stayin' around for awhile, we could meet for a drink later, there's a bar just up the beach, meet there at 'bout 8."

"Hannigans...yeah I know it." I smile; pleased that this man seems to want to know me better too. "See you there at 8."

"Great, see ya later." He smiles one last time and then jogs back along the beach. I watch him until he is out of sight, suddenly feeling a little better and ready to visit my father.

The house is just as I remember it from my last visit which seems like ages ago, my father however isn't and I try to hide my shock at his weakened state. He looks thin and frail and I feel tears prick at my eyes as I remember the strong man I used to know. On seeing me he smiles and his face lights up.

"Jonathan, it is so good to see you." He hugs me as I walk into our family home.

"You too Dad, how's things going?" We walk into the lounge and sit.

"Great." he smiles, "Those bureaucrats at Starfleet have finally sent me someone to help who knows a little about warp engines."

"Just a little?" I laugh.

"Well actually he knows a lot, it's nice to have someone to talk to who shares my enthusiasm for building a warp five engine. I was hoping he would be here when you arrived but he must be running late." Suddenly the door chime sounds, "This must be him now."

As my father goes to answer the door, I look at the various awards and accolades that he has won throughout his career which hang on the wall. I have always felt a sense of pride in him for his achievements and know that this engine will be the crowning glory to everything he has done. My eyes rest on a photograph of my mother, father and myself that is among all the honours and I start to remember when we were a family, such a happy time, when my father's voice distracts me.

"Lieutenant Charles Tucker the Third, this is my son Jonathan."

I turn and come face to face with the man I had spoken to earlier. He looks just as surprised as I am.

"Trip?" I say and my father looks at me puzzled. I feel I owe him an explanation, "We met earlier on the beach."

"Didn't realise he was your son, Henry." Trip says looking slightly embarrassed.

"Yes Jonathan is a Lieutenant Commander is Starfleet." My father smiles proudly and I notice that Trip looks a little shocked.

We sit back down and begin to talk about the project. Then my father encourages Trip to tell me about himself and I find that I'm almost mesmerised by that soft accent. I glance over at my father and he smiles that knowing smile that all parents have when they know something their child is trying to hide. After awhile I offer to make some coffee, but Trip beats me to it and heads to the kitchen.

"You like him don't you?" my father asks and I feel myself blush. " It's alright Jon, I know you like men as well as women and I won't judge you for it." He pauses, "I just want to see my son happy and you can't be happy if you hide who you are."

"Thanks Dad," I smile, "I must admit that when I met him this morning, there was an attraction, but I don't even know whether he's interested in guys." I chuckle, "Although we have arranged to meet tonight for a drink at Hannigans." My smile falters when I think of his expression when he realised who I was, " That might change now that he knows who I am."

My father smiles knowingly and is about to say something when Trip reappears with a tray of coffee. We resume the conversation we had before he left and I tell both my father and Trip about my recent assignments at Starfleet Command.

The afternoon is enjoyable and I'm surprised by how well my father values Trip's assistance. I know that when I chose a career in Starfleet, telling my father that I wanted to go where no man had gone before, as Cochrane had said in his speech, that my father had been disappointed I hadn't chosen to follow in his footsteps but he respected my wishes. I watch now as he chats with Trip and realise that the young man has become a surrogate son. He is the Jonathan Archer who became an engineer and stayed to work with his father and a part of me is jealous. Jealous, because I know that in some ways he has taken on my role. This soon passes when I notice a brightness in my father's eyes that I haven't seen in a long time and I realise that this time my father has someone to help him that shares his dream and his vision. I look at Trip just as he looks at me and nod my understanding to him. He smiles and gives a light nod in reply. I know that when I leave someone will be there to look after my father, someone to support him and help him get this engine built.

Suddenly I notice Trip looking at the clock. He looks uncomfortable for a minute and my father smiles.

"Is this family reunion boring you Trip? You look like you want to leave."

"No...Well, it's just I said I'd meet someone." He looks thoughtful for a moment and then even more embarrassed, "That's if they ain't changed their mind."

"Well have you Jonathan?" My father's comment makes Trip's head snap round to look at me and I feel my face burn. My father looks at the two of us and laughs. "It's alright Trip, Jonathan told me that you had arranged to meet later." He stands up and heads towards the door. "Well I've got some work to do." He stops in the doorway, "Just have fun boys and I'll see you in the morning."

"'Night Dad." I mumble still staring at Trip as my father walks out the door.

"G'dnight Henry." Trip says, his eyes still on me.

We sit there for a few minutes and then realising that we're getting nowhere I decide to break silence. "Come on, let's go that bar."

_Nine Years Later_

I sit propped up in my bed recalling that night and feel grateful that in my father's final years he had someone like Trip to take care of him and help make his warp five engine a reality. The door chime interrupts my memories.

"Come in." I call and smile when I see who my visitor is, "I was just thinking of you."

"Yeah." Trip smiles back as he walks up to me, "Good thoughts, I hope."

"Always." I grin as my lover of nine years kisses me.


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I tried to write a sequel which involved Tucker and Archer having sex in the surf...but to be honest I write lousy sex scenes and would never have done a scene like that justice. This is what popped into my head instead. It is a little sad and does have a CHARACTER DEATH...but it's none of the main characters and is probably not what a lot of people would expect. I hope you like it.

  
Author's notes: I tried to write a sequel which involved Tucker and Archer having sex in the surf...but to be honest I write lousy sex scenes and would never have done a scene like that justice. This is what popped into my head instead. It is a little sad and does have a CHARACTER DEATH...but it's none of the main characters and is probably not what a lot of people would expect. I hope you like it.  


* * *

Anniversaries. They can make you happy, they can make you sad and as I look at Trip sleeping in my arms, I think of the day that has just begun and the anniversary that it represents.

The ticking of the old clock in the study is the only sound to be heard as I sit in my father's chair. It's strange but in the past I'd never really noticed it and I wonder if it was ever a distraction to my father as he worked on his designs.

"You gonna stay there all night?"

I look up at Trip, his voice making me realise that I've been sitting in the room for some time."

"What time is it?" I ask and then feel foolish as Trip looks up at the clock.

"A little after 7." He walks over and squats at my feet, his hands threading with mine in my lap and looks up into my face, "Ev'ryone's gone now. How you doin'?"

"I've been better." I admit and feel the tears threaten to fall again. "I'm sorry I left them all to you," I pause trying to regain my composure, as I feel his fingers gently stoking my hands. "I just needed to be on my own for awhile."

"I know. It's okay. Ev'ryone understands." He stands, not letting go of my hands, "Do you want anythin' t' eat?"

I shake my head, not having any appetite, just wanting to sit in the room that personifies my father.

"Jon, you have t' eat, you can't just sit here."

I hear the worry in his voice and I know he's right but I haven't got the words to explain how I feel.

It had all started when I got a call from Trip to say that my father had been taken ill and that the doctors held out little hope. I had left straight away and got to my father's side just before he lapsed into a coma and died. I had felt grateful to Trip for letting me know, enabling me to be by my father's side until the end. He had been conscious long enough to tell me that he loved me and that he was happy I had Trip in my life.

Since his death three days ago, I feel I'm in a daze, people have called and passed on their condolences at my loss but I haven't really seen them or taken in what they have said, they've been a blur of faces in a sea of black. Trip has handled all the funeral arrangements as well as taking over responsibility for the warp 5 project, just at the time when the engine my father dreamt of seeing in a starship is being built.

"I know but I'm just not hungry, I feel like I've let my Dad down"

"What?" Trip releases my hands and folds his arms, "Now that has got t' be the biggest load of bullshit I've ever heard. What the Hell makes you think you let your Daddy down?"

"I never became an engineer like him, I could have helped him make his dream come true, maybe if I stayed his engine would be in starships now, instead of just in the early prototype stages. I'm his son, and I should have been by his side."

"Jonathan Archer, believe me when I tell you that you have never let your father down. He always spoke of you with such love and pride." Trip's anger is evident and I know deep down that what he says is true. My father never judged me for the decisions I made, never expected me to follow in his footsteps, always allowed me to be my own man, even when Trip and I became lovers. He just wanted to see me happy.

I smile in remembrance of the time I came home on leave to find that my father had let Trip move into the family home. He'd justified this by saying that as he wasn't as well as he used to be, he liked to think there was someone in the house should he be taken ill and as they both tended to work late, it made more sense for Trip to live in the house. I know his reasoning was sound but what he didn't let the outside world know was that he wanted his son's lover to be part of the family. That first night had been the most embarrassing of my life, as my father accepted that we would share a bed. My plans of a night of passion with Trip in his small apartment were wiped out and we just lay in each other's arms flinching everytime one of us moved making the bed creak, feeling like horny teenagers and praying that my father hadn't been woken. The next morning at breakfast, we had both looked tired and my father had laughed when I had corrected his assumption of what we had been doing. That evening my father had gone out visiting friends and the moment he had closed the door, Trip and I were halfway up the stairs to the bedroom. The sex that night was incredible. After that we didn't give it a second thought, although we showed restraint around my father, being content with giving each other secret smiles and the occasional touch.

"Do you want a drink?" Trip's words bring me to the present. "'B'cause I sure could do with one."

I watch as he walks out of the room and decide that a drink may be a good idea. He's in the lounge pouring himself a glass of bourbon and when he sees me he pours a glass for me. I take a swig and the burning as it slips down my throat is welcoming. I notice that Trip has virtually downed his and refills our glasses. He looks at me and lifting his glass, makes a toast.

"To Henry Archer, a true friend and a great father, may his dream become reality and may his soul rest in peace." He knocks the drink back and I follow suit.

We walk over to the couch and sit down, Trip bringing the bottle with him. He fills our glasses again and this time we drink them slowly.

"When do you have t' go back t' Starfleet?" he asks the question he has been avoiding since my father died.

"The day after tomorrow." I answer sadly, "What are you going to do?"

"Well, Starfleet are supposed t' be sending someone t' oversee the project, " he pauses at my startled look, "They say I ain't got the experience."

"What!" I can't believe what he's saying, " So they'll take you off the project and send in someone with half a brain, who those Vulcan bastards recommend, that way the engine is never finished,"

"Woah, Jon, keep your shirt on, I never said that." He sips his drink, "They're talkin' of keepin' me on but someone else will be in charge."

I can tell Trip is disappointed, he knows as much about this engine as my father did and I know my father would have wanted him to carry on his work. It suddenly occurs to me that Henry Archer's death has hit Trip hard too and I can't help the tears as they start to fall. Trip moves to my side and his arms wrap around me.

I don't realise that I'm crying in the present as well as in the memory until I feel Trip move from my arms and the small light above my bed is switched on.

"You okay?" he asks sleepily.

"Fine." I lie, trying to keep my voice steady, but he's seen through it and sits up in the bed, looking down at me.

"Okay, let's have it." I smile as I look into his still sleepy eyes, his hair sticking up in all directions.

"I was just thinking of my Dad." I pause, but Trip stays silent and I know he remembers the significance of the day, "I just wish he had a chance to see his engine fly, to be part of this." I feel the tears in my eyes and turn my face away.

I feel Trip touch my shoulder and then slip out of bed.

"Come with me."

"What?....Where?..." I'm confused as I watch Trip slip his uniform on over his naked body and try to smooth down his hair.

"Will you just do it."

I slowly get up and pull on a pair of sweat pants and a T-shirt, while Trip pulls on his boots. I walk out the door first; making sure no one sees Trip leaving. Once the coast is clear he leads me to the nearest lift.

"Where are we going?"

"You'll see." I'm intrigued and follow him silently until we are at our destination...Engineering, "What do you see?" he asks as we stand in front of the massive warp engine.

"The warp engine?" I say puzzled.

"Exactly."

"Trip...I don't understand." I'm too tired physically and emotionally to understand what he is saying.

"The warp engine...Henry Archer's warp engine...it may be in a Starfleet vessel but it's his engine. You say that you wish he had had the chance t' see his engine fly, well he put his heart and soul int' that engine and so in a way a part of him did make it int' space," He pauses and walks up to me, placing his hand over my heart, "And while he's in here he'll always be with you wherever you go."

I'm touched by what he has said and feel the tears well up again, Trip Tucker can be a real pain in the ass but sometimes even after all this time he still surprises me. I watch as he walks back to the door and then turns.

"Let's go back t' bed, b'cause if don't get my sleep I'm going t' be real cranky."

I laugh and follow him, yep definitely a pain in the ass, but I wouldn't have him any other way.


End file.
